Unchecked Distortion

BRINGING ABOUT CHANGE IS DIFFICULT IN THE INDIAN milieu, especially in the fertiliser sector. Former finance minister Manmohan Singh's attempts to reduce subsidies by hiking the price of urea failed, leading to a distortion in the use of nutrients. Ideally, the ratio in which nitrogen (primarily from urea), phosphate (from di-ammonium phosphate) and potash (from single super phosphate) should be deployed in fields is 4:2:1. But because of flawed pricing policies of nutrients, the current ratio is 8:2.8: 1. The disproportionate use of urea can be harmful as it only works on the plant surface. Phosphatic and potassic fertilisers are needed to prevent soil degradation. If the Government had hiked the price of urea by Re 1 a kg, it would have corrected the distortion. The rolling back of the hike will not only push up the subsidy bill by Rs 1,600 crore, it will also increase consumption, much to the satisfaction of manufacturers. That the fields of the ignorant farmers is being systematically eroded is another matter.

Do You Like This Story? Awesome! Now share the story Too bad. Tell us what you didn't like in the comments